TX - Sandra Bland, 28, found dead in jail cell, Waller County, 13 July 2015 #1

[jslk]

H

Lawrence Kobilinsky on CNN (news) examined the photo and pointed out no ligature marks on neck,bruising on neck, eye abnormality which would be signs of hanging...He did not think the photo postmortem.

JMO

Unless (and this is just my speculation) she died some other way and the hanging injuries were - staged? - that seems way too much though now I've written it down.

The LEO asking her to put out her cigarette just seems to be power play, to me. He is escalating the situation. Jmo.

 

[bluesneakers]

Another thought (too much coffee, sorry)-

My opinion is that the officer was not asking SB if she was ok out of concern for her well-being nor because he thought her impaired. I get the feeling it was more like "you mad, bro?" "Oh, are you not thrilled I pulled you over? Are you mad? Why won't you talk to me? Huh?"

Antagonizing.

I agree. And then when she didn't say "Yes, Officer I am fine. I'm so sorry for what I did" he lost his mind and went after her.

All he had to do was say "It's okay, you can keep smoking. Here's your ticket. Drive safely and have a nice day."

 

[bluesneakers]

When they ban cigarettes, then police can rightfully require citizens to put out said cigarettes.

And while the constitution does not specifically address smoking, it is not against the law and IMO, would fall under the constitutional right to privacy. In this case, SB was smoking inside of her vehicle. Not in a public place.

He asked her to put it out. She was completely within her rights to refuse. If he still had a problem or was that terrified he could have either said "Put it out or I will have to arrest you for -whatever violation*-" or he could have called for back up to protect him from the scary woman.

*No idea what it would be.

 

[bluesneakers]

The officer himself said the she was under arrest from the moment he pulled her over. So how did she assault him from inside her own vehicle, with him insideof his cruiser?

Surely the officer wouldn't lie.

What I want to know is how he knew she was going to assault him before she did.

 

[arkansasmimi]

If that were the case, I would expect him to He didn't, and therefore I discount this theory.

Respectfully, the officer arrives back up to the car at
@840 mark. Officer

@8:46 mark (*after observing for 6 sec) he ask "YOU OK"?

SB : tells him she waiting on him, he states You seem very irritated, and then goes thru why she is.. he didn't ask her why she was irritated, and when she stops talking he asks her are you done, then ...

@9:17
Officer: "you mind putting out your cigarette, please, if you don't mind"

SB : I'm in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette

Officer: Well you can step on out now

SB: I don't have to step out of my car

Officer: Step out of the car

Goes down hill from there.... by 9:46 he tells her as he has opened the door Step out or I will remove you, *he said step out multiple times

by 9:56 she is going to call her lawyer, and he is reaching in car

So up until that time (1 min and 16 sec right?) JMHO, the first 6 seconds of observation he did "act in a compassionate, supportive and understanding manner", after he asked her "you ok" which he had to have a reason to ask that, and he says to her she seems very irritated. In that whole first 1 min 16 seconds, JMHO of course but how was the Officer anything but doing his duty? I ask this honestly and sincerely.

ETA link to video http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-new-sandra-bland-video--20150722-story.html#page=1

 

[ladonna]

Oh for Pete's Sake, was that her corpse that appeared at her bond hearing? Ridiculous.

 

[IndianSummer]

....I remember reading this:

If the situation is escalating you should tell the officer you want his supervisor. This is paramount to document your side. Say it loud.


...anyone ever heard of a supervisor coming to the stop.
...my friend requested a female officer & one came - she got out of the ticket!
JMO

 

[arkansasmimi]

If that were the case, I would expect him to act in a compassionate, supportive and understanding manner. He didn't, and therefore I discount this theory.

The Officer was protecting citizens and upholding the law when he stopped Sandra Bland. She broke a violation of the law. Driving is a privilege. She was arrested for Assault on a Public Servant, she allegedly kicked the officer. I am not supporting all of the Officers actions, but nor am I going to say that Sandra Bland actions did not get her arrested, they did. She made the choices she made. And she as any other citizen was seen before a judge and was given an amount that she could be released on until court date. She could have plead her case at that time. She was not bonded out and on the 3rd day for whatever reason, she took her own life.

The Officer was put on desk duty because he violated iirc two department rules, of which we don't know what they are. The jail is a completely different situation that the traffic stop that ended up in an arrest for assault.

 

[bluesneakers]

The Officer was protecting citizens and upholding the law when he stopped Sandra Bland. She broke a violation of the law. Driving is a privilege. She was arrested for Assault on a Public Servant, she allegedly kicked the officer. I am not supporting all of the Officers actions, but nor am I going to say that Sandra Bland actions did not get her arrested, they did. She made the choices she made. And she as any other citizen was seen before a judge and was given an amount that she could be released on until court date. She could have plead her case at that time. She was not bonded out and on the 3rd day for whatever reason, she took her own life.

The Officer was put on desk duty because he violated iirc two department rules, of which we don't know what they are. The jail is a completely different situation that the traffic stop that ended up in an arrest for assault.

Let's hope he takes this time to think long and hard about what happened and realized law enforcement is not the career for him.

 

[pepelepolecat]

....I remember reading this:

If the situation is escalating you should tell the officer you want his supervisor. This is paramount to document your side. Say it loud.


...anyone ever heard of a supervisor coming to the stop.
...my friend requested a female officer & one came - she got out of the ticket!
JMO

The sad thing is that this would ever be necessary. In a perfect world, members of the public wouldn't be responsible for calming down an irritable/irate/egomaniacal police officer. Officers should be thoroughly trained in non-violent crisis intervention tactics. They should be taught to *de-escalate situations. They should be taught to remain calm and reasonable even in the face of UNreasonable behavior. Officers who cannot control their tempers/egos/behaviors should not be officers because THOSE are the types of officers who tend to be trigger happy. Those are the officers who "forget" the use-of-force continuum. Those are the officers who abuse their authority and hurt those they are supposed to protect.

People like Sandra, someone with a history of depression, bipolar disorder, suicide attempts, are among the most vulnerable in society. She should have been protected. And by *him. If he felt like she was getting out-of-control, it was HIS responsibility to calm the situation. How anyone can blame a vulnerable woman for her own death instead of those who were responsible by law to protect her is beyond me.

 

[arkansasmimi]

She was coming out of what looked like a shopping area or business and if she had rolled through a stop sign he would have turned his audio on like he did when he pulled her over and as he did with the previous traffic stop before SB.
He didn't turn his audio on until she changed lanes.
Weed can be detected months after smoking and it doesn't mean that you're currently under the influence of the drug.
He also kept asking the previous person pulled over if she was okay. Seemed to me it was a weird tic of his or habit.IMO

She did go thru the stop sign lol thats when he turned around.. you can see the stop sign too as he does this, then he speeds up to catch up with her vehicle and if you listen it appears that they redacted her license plate info from the video when the officer ran it prior to him stopping and getting out of his patrol car JMHO http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-new-sandra-bland-video--20150722-story.html#page=1

 

[kimlynn]

The Officer was protecting citizens and upholding the law when he stopped Sandra Bland. She broke a violation of the law. Driving is a privilege. She was arrested for Assault on a Public Servant, she allegedly kicked the officer. I am not supporting all of the Officers actions, but nor am I going to say that Sandra Bland actions did not get her arrested, they did. She made the choices she made. And she as any other citizen was seen before a judge and was given an amount that she could be released on until court date. She could have plead her case at that time. She was not bonded out and on the 3rd day for whatever reason, she took her own life.

The Officer was put on desk duty because he violated iirc two department rules, of which we don't know what they are. The jail is a completely different situation that the traffic stop that ended up in an arrest for assault.

Most people aren't ordered out of their vehicle and or arrested for such a minor fault as failing to use a turn signal.
And he told she was under arrest before she 'kicked" him.
I can say if LE is roaring up behind me I would also move out of their way thinking they must be on a run and not wanting to impede them.
Her only known crime is not using a signal to change lanes.
For this minor infraction she lost her life...possibly by her own hand. IMO

 

[bwt42]

She wasn't agitated when he requested she put out her cigarette. That came later when he reached in to try and yank her out of her car. IMO

Sorry, I should have said irritated instead of agitated. Bottom line, she was upset.

 

[kimlynn]

She did go thru the stop sign lol thats when he turned around.. you can see the stop sign too as he does this, then he speeds up to catch up with her veh.... View attachment 78665 http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-new-sandra-bland-video--20150722-story.html#page=1

I watched the video four times and it looked to me as though she stopped long enough to determine that she could safely pull out into traffic.
If she had ran a stop sign he would have flashed his lights at her in order to pull her over. IMO
He also would have said 'did you know you ran a stop sign back there' IMO

 

[kimlynn]

Sorry, I should have said irritated instead of agitated. Bottom line, she was upset.

Yes she was. She explained why after the officer mentioned that she seemed irritated. IMO her reason for being irritated is what made him angry enough to order her out of her car.
I think for him it was a case of the truth hurting.

 

[arkansasmimi]

Well yes, he had to charge her with something after yanking and grappling with her inside her vehicle and saying he was going to "light her up"
He was on camera after all.

Respectfully, my comment was to correct what she was arrest for, and a copy of the booking doc as source. Not as an opinion of mine.

 

[ladonna]

---

If an officer feels any threat whatsoever, he or she can order someone out of their vehicle, said CNN legal analyst and attorney Danny Cevallos.
That right was established in a 1977 Supreme Court case that found Pennsylvania police officers were justified in instructing a man named Harry Mimms, whom they had pulled over for an expired license plate, to get out of his car.
Mimms complied and an officer patted him down after seeing a bulge in his pants under his jacket. Searching Mimms was not a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to protection against illegal search and seizure, the high court found.

 

[arkansasmimi]

She wasn't agitated when he requested she put out her cigarette. That came later when he reached in to try and yank her out of her car. IMO

Respectfully, She was irritated and she said so when she replied to him asking if she was ok, and went on to tell him why she was. @approx 8:46 http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-new-sandra-bland-video--20150722-story.html#page=1

 

[kimlynn]

---

If an officer feels any threat whatsoever, he or she can order someone out of their vehicle, said CNN legal analyst and attorney Danny Cevallos.
That right was established in a 1977 Supreme Court case that found Pennsylvania police officers were justified in instructing a man named Harry Mimms, whom they had pulled over for an expired license plate, to get out of his car.
Mimms complied and an officer patted him down after seeing a bulge in his pants under his jacket. Searching Mimms was not a violation of his Fourth Amendment right to protection against illegal search and seizure, the high court found.

Now I have to wonder why he felt SB was a threat. All she said prior to his order to step out of the vehicle was you sped up behind me and tailed me so I pulled over.
Then we have the request to put out the cigarette. Next the order to leave the safety of her vehicle.
Did he call for backup before the tussle in the car since he must have felt she was a threat to his safety.
I just read the incident report on CNN and he didn't mention fear for his safety as to why he asked her to exit the vehicle.

 

[arkansasmimi]

Has an incident report on the stop and arrest been published? JMO

These two docs and this link to booking doc are all I have seen. Unsure if this is what your looking for or not. Booking doc http://documents.latimes.com/booking-documents-sandra-bland/